Can I Help You?
by Chiri-tan
Summary: In which Aomine Daiki gets thrown into an alternate reality where Kuroko Tetsuya does not attend Teikou Middle School. AoKuro; KagaKuroOgi being bros
1. Chapter 1

**Can I Help You?**

_In which Aomine Daiki gets thrown into an alternate reality where Kuroko Tetsuya does not attend Teikou Middle School. AoKuro; KagaKuroOgi being bros._

**_Inspired by this comic _**_yefione. tumblr post/31260869806/i-saw-a-dream-like-this-aokuro_

* * *

For the first time in his entire life, silence was the loudest thing that rang within Aomine Daiki's ears.

It was reverberating within his skull, silent guilt and remorse creeping his entire body slowly, steadily, like some sort of terminal illness as azure blue orbs stared right to his own navy. Grief, fear, _hurt_, _pain_, _disappointment_ all melted into a pool of azure that normally reflected nothing at everything at the same time. Tetsu was silent as the sound of the basketball dropping onto the floor echoed throughout the gym and broke their silence.

For a split _second_, he could swear seeing a pool of tears starting to form on the corner of Tetsu's eyes. But the younger boy said nothing, his lips still slightly parted from shock as he tried processing the words Aomine just said to him.

The entire Teikou first string watched their exchange with wary and pity, the former obviously for him and the latter for Tetsu. _They were best friends_, Aomine heard a murmur. _Kuroko treasured his and Aomine's friendship more than anything_, another chimed. _Turns out he means nothing to Aomine_, another added. _Poor Kuroko-kun._

Aomine's gaze did not falter as the ringing sound on his ears ceased to be. He watched as Tetsu silently closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Blank azure orbs met once more with navy, reflecting _absolutely nothing _as he bowed a little towards Aomine. "I see," pale lips uttered, trembling ever so slightly. "I apologize if you think that I am a burden, _Aomine-kun_." The tanned teen shivered slightly at the icy cold tone Tetsu used to call his name. It used to be warm and lingering with unsaid affection. "I assure you that it will not happen again. Please excuse me."

And then Tetsu left, his steps a little unsteady yet firm and lack hesitation. As he stepped towards the shadowed part of the gym, Aomine could _swear _that Tetsu was melting with the darkness as soon as he entered the darkness. Aomine stood still, unable to move from his position. He could feel the Teikou Middle's uniform growing heavier by the minute he wore them instead of the practice gear. He wondered if it was just his guilt trying to cope with the overload of information Tetsu just gave him.

_I assure you that it will not happen again. _What won't? Their partnership? Their _friendship? _The unsound confession that they loved each other? _Which one of it won't happen again?!_

"Dai-chan you idiot!" He was jolted out of his stupor as Satsuki threw a clipboard to his chin. She was crying, tears leaking from her face as she stared at Aomine with apparent frustration and disappointment. "See if I care anymore!" And then she ran away from the court, in the opposite direction of the locker room Tetsu had disappeared to. Aomine then looked around, where people started to shift around and returned to their previous activity.

Midorima was the only person of the Generation of Miracles who saw the entire thing, but he spared Aomine nothing but a glance. He kept on shooting those basket like nothing else mattered, like he had blocked everything away except for the ball and the basket. Kise was nowhere to be found, along with Murasakibara and Akashi. And Tetsu never returned either.

Aomine stood, his head retreating back to its small space as he tried to process just _what the hell was going on_ with his life. So he had told Tetsu that he was a burden, that now everyone had awakened, his basketball was no longer needed. But so what? Tetsu always knew that Aomine was just blowing fuse. He understood him better than anyone, after all. But, but...

_Passes? To whom? _He could hear his own voice echoing back to his ears. _To me? To Kise? I... I don't even remember how to receive your passes anymore._

And _then _he could see something within Tetsu crack.

Aomine's eyes widened, now realizing the severity of what he had done. Tetsu worked extremely _hard _for those passes of his. All for the sake of being useful to Akashi, all for the sake of standing on the same court as _him_. And he trampled all over his hard work like it was nothing. He had dismissed Tetsu's love of basketball in such a cruel way. No wonder Satsuki got mad at him and threw a clipboard to his chin. What the fuck was going on with him?!

He ran to the locker room, trying to find his shadow. But the moment he opened the door, the air around him shifted and turned heavier and heavier by the second. His vision was started to blur as dark spots filled whatever else he could see and turned him into darkness.

He could hear a sound of faint sobbing, like someone was crying until their voice was hoarse. He could hear a sound of sweet nothings being murmured to comfort the sobs, he could hear a _familiar _voice whispering weakly to the world around him.

_I wish I have never met him._

And the world began to spun on his heels and eventually faded to black.

* * *

The next morning, Aomine woke up with a lazy groan.

And a certain soreness around his shoulder and thighs too, he must have practiced hard yesterday. Wait- what? He never practiced anymore. How come he felt so tired...?

"Daikiiiii! Wake up! Satsuki-chan is here to pick you up for morning practice!"

Aomine narrowed his eyes. Satsuki stopped doing that the moment he never showed up for practice anymore. So... how come-

After a reflexive move to check his clock, Aomine almost dropped the contraption onto the floor. He was back. Back to before he managed to win his second championship, the very time before the head coach collapsed and everything went downhill. Had he... had he gone back in time?!

"Dai-chan hurry!" Satsuki's shrill call got him out of the bed and dressed himself in his uniform. He packed all the things he needed and went downstairs to greet his annoying childhood friend-slash-mom. She rattled about how they would lose just because their ace slacked off in training just before their second championship match. And for once, Aomine listened to her.

The tanned teen then said a passing 'hah? Haven't we won that already?' only to be countered by a confused-looking Satsuki scolding him for saying stupid things. "What are you talking about, Dai-chan- I mean, Aomine-kun? The next Inter-Middle will start like two weeks from now, remember? Aren't you paying attention that what Akashi-kun said yesterday?"

But Akashi wasn't even in practice yesterday! How was he supposed to listen to him?!

"Anyways, I should be going now. Acchan and Micchan are waiting for me. Go change to your practice gear, okay? Ki-chan should already be in the court so you guys can go one on one before practice starts." And then she left him alone in the locker room.

Aomine placed his bag on his locker, the thing hadn't been emptied like he thought it had. Well, unless this was really the past and not an elaborate joke made with his mom and Satsuki, this locker wouldn't have been cleaned up since he still used them to store his ball and gravure magazines.

He changed into his practice gear, a simple black shirt and a white shorts. That's odd. If this was really the past, then Tetsu should be here already. That guy always come early in morning practice, after all. Maybe he was already in court, helping Kise with whatever he needed helping. Or being ogled at like some sort of a puppy master. Maybe.

Suddenly, his head throbbed. Tetsu. God, _Tetsu_. He had to apologize to him! He had done something so _utterly and motherfucking stupid_ like saying that his basketball wasn't needed. He ran towards the court and found Kise dribbling a basketball all by himself.

"Oi Kise!" He shouted impatiently. "Aominecchi! It's rare to see you come so early for morning practice! C'mon let's have one on-!"

"Where's Tetsu?!"

There was a silence, an extremely heavy one for Aomine and yet a moment of confusion for the dimwitted blond. "Tetsu...? Who's that?"

What...?

"Hmm is there anyone in our team named 'Tetsu'? I don't think there's anyone." Kise pondered to himself, but Aomine launched himself at the Small Forward and yanked him by his collar. "Don't fucking kidding me, Kise! How come you don't know Tetsu?! Aren't you the one who always goes 'Kurokocchi! Kurokocchi!' at him?!"

Kise's eyes widened in sheer shock as Aomine glared at him, but he still showed no recognition in his eyes. "W-waaah! I'm sorry, Aominecchi! But I really don't know any Tetsu or Kurokocchi-ssu!" He whimpered out, fear lacing each and every word that came out of his mouth. Aomine clicked his tongue and pushed Kise away from him.

Aomine ran and ran, trying to find the phantom sixth man of Teikou. He ran to the library, and bumped onto Midorima. "Oi Midorima! Is Tetsu here for some library committee shit?"

"Tetsu? Who is that?"

"Kuroko Tetsuya! Dammit are you kidding me too?!"

Midorima shook his head and straightened his glasses with his free hand. He spared a glance to the light blue-colored piyo on his right hand before glancing back to Aomine. "There's no one named Kuroko Tetsuya in the library committee-nodayo."

Aomine ran.

And everywhere he ran, it was always the same. He couldn't seem to find Tetsu, and he couldn't seem to find _anyone _who knew him.

"Kuro-chin? What's that? Sounds delicious~ is it a candy?" Murasakibara.

"Tetsu-kun? Who's that? I've never met anyone named Tetsu-kun." Satsuki.

"There is no student by the name Kuroko Tetsuya in Teikou Middle School, Aomine. I should now, after all, I'm the Student Council President." Akashi.

But, but, that's impossible! The second championship was the happiest time he had shared with Tetsu! The days they would stop at the convenience store to eat ice cream, the day they would go to Majiba just to buy Tetsu's milkshakes, the days they _admitted _that they loved one another even without any words or sound. Those were the _happiest _day of his life!

Aomine then ran to the convenience store near their school, and eventually scoured the town until sundown. His last stop had been Majiba, where no light blue hair or azure eyes to be spotted. He held his knees with both hands as he panted. Where- where was...!

And suddenly, he saw it.

A light blue hair on top of a pale-skinned face and azure eyes. His eyes widened as the shorter teen walked passed him, seemingly not noticing Aomine's presence. The ace of Teikou Middle immediately ran to him and grabbed his shoulder. "Tetsu!" He called out, relief, anger, apology, and irritation rolling within his voice as he forced the pale boy to look at his direction.

The blue-haired teen stopped on his tracks and looked at Aomine. He tugged at his companion's sleeve and the three of them were stopped in the middle of the road. "What is it now, Tetsuya? You know how irritating Shige gets when he-"

"Taiga-kun."

Tetsu's voice was stern as he called on his companion to look at Aomine as well. "What...? Tetsu...? Why are you wearing...?" Aomine tiredly whispered as he took in the black gakuran Tetsu was wearing. He wasn't wearing their usual white and blue uniform. He was wearing a black gakuran with white undershirt instead. Why...? Why...?!

"Can I help you?" He asked, expressionless face on place as he offered a sincere question. Just like... it was as if...

"Tetsuya, you know this guy?" The redheaded companion of Tetsu asked, his red eyes peering at Aomine with confusion and curiosity. Tetsu shook his head. "No, not at all. But you look familiar. May I ask who you are?"

Color drained from Aomine's face as he saw no recognition whatsoever on Tetsu's blank azure orbs. His hands were trembling and his head was throbbing. His ears began to rang with words repeated over and over again.

_I wish I have never met him._

It was as if Aomine Daiki was a _stranger _in Kuroko Tetsuya's life.

His heart wrenched.

* * *

_Sorry for a new lousy story guys... *kills self*_


	2. Chapter 2

**Can I Help You?**

_Chapter 2: Strangers._

* * *

"Yooosh! Practice over! Gather all your things and clean up immediate-!"

"Tetsu!"

Kagami turned his full attention away from the captain's words as he heard the familiar worry-wart tone Shige only used when it came to Tetsuya. The redhead shifted, immediately trying to find the easily most-concealed person in the entire court. And true to his thoughts, Tetsuya was bound to be spotted whenever Shige was with him, hugging him as if he was some sort of a humanoid teddy bear. But unlike the usual clingy hugs his friend always seemed to like giving to both Tetsuya and Kagami, he was actually looking extremely worried.

Shige's hands found their way to Tetsuya's shoulders, lightly gripping him as the Moon of Meikou shed tears that seemed to be leaking from his eyes without his consent.

"Tetsuya!" Kagami, of course, ran to him worriedly. It was rare to see Tetsuya display any kinds of emotions outside of their small circle of friends, after all. He usually only showed his abundant expressions to him or to Shige only, and he certainly never _cried _in front of the whole team. "Tetsu? Tetsu? Please, what's going on? Are you hurting? Are you tired?" Shige tattled, panicking all by himself. But Kagami took a deep breath and approached Tetsuya with a pat on his head.

"What's wrong, Tetsuya?" He asked calmly.

Tetsuya looked up to him, azure orbs full of confusion and curiosity as he rubbed the tears that kept on leaking from his eyes. "I don't understand myself, Taiga-kun." The blue-haired teen said, still rubbing his tears away. "It's just that, I don't know, it suddenly..."

"Captaiiin! Tetsu, Taiga, and I are going to Tokyo so we won't be back to the dorm until late at night! Good day!" Shige then grabbed both his and Tetsu's arms and dragged them to the locker room.

Kagami should have expected it from Shige, though. The kid was always the most energetic among the three of them. Taiga first met him during his transfer to Meikou Middle in the second term of the first year. He had been lured in by the strange rumor about the Sun-Moon Combo of the basketball team which was also rumored to be boyfriends with one another. He met Shige first, and then met Tetsuya right after a startling entrance the quiet boy had made.

The three of them turned out to be the best of friends, with Kagami somehow worming in between the two childhood friends. He and Shige would bicker, Tetsuya will listen and chuckle quietly to add to their conversation.

The redhead peered worriedly towards his friend, who was still wiping his face off with towels. "Hey, you-"

"I am fine, Taiga-kun. It's just that I am really confused as to why I'm crying, that's all." Tetsuya always disliked it whenever he tattled on him, and it brought a smile to Kagami's face. Being a tittle-tattle was Shige's job, after all.

They settled into a comfortable silence as they changed their clothes. And just when they were finished, Shige barged into the room with his usual loud entrance. "Okay! We're going to Tokyo today!" Both redhead and tealhead was about to sound a protest before the airheaded guy shushed them. "No buts! Tetsu is feeling down and as per our agreement, we _will _go to Majiba, where we first hang out. Deal?"

Tetsuya sighed to himself before nodding slightly towards Kagami, who nodded in return. It was hard to argue with Shige when he absolutely wanted something, after all. "Okay, fine! But I need to take my wallet first, I left it at the dorm today." Shige beamed. "Sweet! I'll go with the earliest train and go there first so I can save a good spot, okay? You guys go with the next train!" And with that, Shige waved them a cheery goodbye and left the room like a flurry of wind.

Tetsuya sighed as he mumbled loud enough for the both of them to hear.

"Remind me why I choose to rarely get upset again?"

Kagami laughed merrily. After all, it's just like Shige to drag them two towns away from home just to cheer them up when they feel down.

* * *

The wind seemed to sound really loud in Aomine's ears as Tetsu asked him who he was.

His heart wrenched, twisted, and bent in a really weird way within his chest. He could hear Tetsu's usual quiet call of 'Aomine-kun' whenever they were together, but... It was followed with a really loud echo of 'May I ask who you are?' he just uttered a few moments earlier. But, but it was weird! If this was really two-weeks before the Inter-Middle, then his name as the Generation of Miracles should already spread out throughout the entire Japan. But, how come Tetsu didn't know who he was? Could it be that he stopped playing basketball?

"Oi, Tetsu, are you-"

_Ring ring ring~_

A perfectly ordinary-sounding ringtone sounded from Tetsu's pocket and it made Aomine clench his fists in sheer dislike of the unfamiliar. Tetsu _never _carried his cell phone around on his pocket, he always placed it within his bag on the rare days he even brought them. And he seemed really good at handling his phone, unlike the usually slow and klutzy way of typing Aomine had held dear.

"I apologize, but I have to take this." Tetsu turned away from both redhead and navy-haired teen as he flipped his phone open.

Aomine stood silently, still washed from the entire unfamiliar display of mundane everyday life. Talking to Tetsu had always been something he took for granted, as the blue-haired phantom seemed to always follow him wherever he went like some sort of shadow. Aomine had liked it, Satsuki had loved it, and the others had expected it. After all, as a shadow, Tetsu was bound to gravitate towards people who emitted strong lights.

And that led him into casting a curious glance every now and then to the boy who was standing beside Tetsu.

He must've been close to Tetsu. After all, his shadow hated to be addressed over-familiarly by people who were not close to him personally. Well, hate wasn't the right word, he guessed; because Tetsu didn't hate anyone, just mildly dislike them...

The redhead, he noticed, also casted him a few curious glance. They emitted the same aura, if Aomine were to be honest and not being an prideful jerk. They were of the same build, their height was balanced (but he was still an inch taller), and most of all, he reeked of _talent_.

Aomine could sense it from miles away. This guy had potential to go into a state of concentration so powerful it literally boosted your entire performance, the Zone.

The ace of Teikou shook his head slightly before turning his head back to his phantom, who was holding his phone a few meters away from his ear. "Yes, yes, sorry, Shigehiro-kun." Tetsu _smiled _to the phone as he sighed softly. "Taiga-kun and I will be coming soon, okay? And..." Navy blue met with azure in a silent yet solemn stare before Tetsu averted his eyes away.

"Do you mind getting us a four-person booth? I think we will have another person joining us."

* * *

If Aomine thought that his heart had twisted and twinge in such an odd way when Tetsu asked him who he was, he was positively sure that his heart had been thrown with a ton of melted lava when they sat on _their _favorite spot in Maji Burgers.

The four-person booth at the right corner of Maji Burgers was his, Satsuki, Kise, and Tetsu's favorite place to hang out and trade out silly stories or even study for exams. They even scribbled their names on the wall without being caught by the store employee, but Aomine couldn't see the scribble at all. He- they never went here...

The sitting arrangement was quite awkward, per se. After all, he and the redhead (they still hadn't introduce themselves) were as big as one another, and Ogiwara; Aomine still remembered him from the time he let this guy passed him so they could have the perfect 111-11 score, refused to sit next to people other than Tetsu.

And this was the main reason why Aomine felt like a melted lava was being poured all over his gut.

Ogiwara sat _really _close to Tetsu, as in _really _close because the kid was practically shoving Tetsu's head onto his chest and put his cheek on top of Tetsu's teal hair. He smiled contently for a few minutes, as if enjoying the faint aroma of Tetsu's vanilla-scented shampoo and then fixed his baby blue eyes on Aomine's face.

"Aaaand since when did you guys become friends with Teikou Middle's Aomine-kun?" He started, breaking the silence that had settled down on the table. This kid knew him.

"Teikou's Aomine?" The redhead echoed back, still not recognizing the name. "Yeah, Teikou's Generation of Miracles' ace, Aomine Daiki-kun." The raven-haired boy said as he finally let go of _his _shadow as he could finally enjoy the white tumbler Ogiwara had prepared for him before their arrival.

As baby blue orbs clashed with navy ones, Aomine swore that he could see a glint of disdain before it eased back to cheerfulness and curiosity. "We haven't been introduced, have we? Stupid!" Ogiwara laughed all by himself as he offered his pale hand. "Ogiwara Shigehiro, Meikou's lucky number 7! Nice to meet you!"

Aomine peered at the boy he had broken last year (according to his memory). His confident grin and the way his other hand settled on Tetsu's free hand made him feel angry and irritated. But when he glanced at Tetsu, _his _phantom seemed to not mind it at all and the redhead next to him didn't even seem to acknowledge the fact that these _guys _were holding hands like nothing was wrong.

"Aomine Daiki, Teikou's number 6." He didn't take the offered hand or smile in return. His gaze burned on the hand that held _his _shadow's own. "And seemed like you know Tetsu-" _Tetsu?! _"-already, right? So the only person you still don't know is this guy with weird eyebrows." He pointed at the redhead with a faked frown. "Hey! Who're you calling weird you airheaded pig?!" The redhead jabbed, but it didn't sound malicious at all. It sounded like a playful banter he'd exchange with Kise or Satsuki.

"But, yeah, anyways, I'm Kagami Taiga. I just become Meikou's number 10 along with Tetsuya over there, who just got promoted to Meikou's number 11." A faint pink blush crept on Tetsu's face even though he was still silent. Ogiwara, who noticed the change at the same time as him, beamed happily and _kissed _Tetsu on the cheek that blushed.

Aomine's fists trembled on top of his lap.

"Yeah," The redhead- _Kagami_ whispered quietly, as if finding the scene cute and boring at the same time. "They're always like that."

Aomine Daiki didn't know a shred of thing about love. Not about the jealousy, not about the pain, and certainly _not _about jealousy. But when Tetsu mildly scold Ogiwara for nearly knocking over his milkshake with a warm lingering smile that was once reserved for him and him alone, he found himself shaken up to his very core. He was wrong. He had taken Tetsu for granted. And it never cross his mind that _seeing _Tetsu not-recognizing him and being so friendly with others, or even hearing somebody else call him with the name that only he and Satsuki had used... had hurt.

Suddenly, Aomine's vision was blurred by _something_. He clenched his fists even tighter than before. Whenever his heart pounded, it felt like it was drowning in scalding hot water. His eyes felt hot, and heavy, and-

"Excuse me," Tetsu said as he tilted his head to the right, a habit that Aomine had noticed whenever Tetsu was asking a question. "Why are you crying, um, Aomine-kun?"

Silent tears leaked from his eyes as he reveled in the blank-sounding call of 'Aomine-kun' uttered from his shadow's mouth. Ah, no, not his shadow... _this _Tetsu was not his shadow...

This Tetsu and him were strangers, and there was no reason for a stranger to feel genuinely concerned for another stranger, right?

* * *

_THE ANGST IS KILLING ME DDDXXXX_


	3. Chapter 3

**Can I Help You?**

_Chapter 3: Rotation._

* * *

On the next day after he hung out with Tetsu and his friends, Aomine found himself practicing with his body on autopilot.

It was so much easier this way, he had made this autopilot mode when he started to feel more and more bored with his favorite sport. He was dribbling, shooting, driving, and overall practicing under Akashi's watchful gaze, but his mind was definitely elsewhere.

It was certainly different, but only _he _could feel the difference. Whenever Midorima and Murasakibara argued, it used to be Tetsu who broke them up with his green-looking face, but now, it was Akashi's stern orders to 'stop' that ceded their bickers.

Kise still liked to challenge him to a one-on-one battle, but in less frequency. Probably because he didn't need to proof to Akashi that he also deserved some of the phantom's passes. Kise was still a happy-go-lucky idiot, but he wasn't a hyperactive puppy who would try to tag along with him, Satsuki, and Tetsu after practice.

His relationship with Satsuki was the only thing that didn't change significantly. The only difference was Satsuki never mentioned any boys whatsoever in front of Aomine. Other boys were too ordinary for her, and he was a good for nothing idiot (according to Satsuki), and there wasn't any Tetsu who was special and had the graceful charm she had always dreamed of from a man.

On the Saturday off, Aomine laze around his house for a while before finding himself walking around town all by himself. It felt so lonely, though. Saturday was the day Kise usually asked him for an one-on-one to determine who got to have Tetsu's passing right on Monday, Saturday was the day he would spend just walking around town trying to find new hanging spots with his shadow.

And now he was alone, it felt really really empty.

* * *

On Sunday, Aomine walked around town again, only with a specific thing in mind. He wanted to find Tetsu, he wanted to talk to him, probably he could figure out more about this crazy world. Maybe this was just an elaborate prank Tetsu had made because he was pissed from yesterday's accident. Maybe, maybe...

But then he spotted it once again, those powder blue hair that seemed to always disappear within the crowds. Aomine ran, again, as he tried to reach the only person he felt the strong urge to apologize to. He had broken Tetsu's heart, after all. Not just his heart, his entire hard work and things he had been doing with all his determination... Aomine had destroyed it as if didn't matter at all.

He ran, trying to reach those pale and lithe figure. He ran and reached a basketball court full of people.

It was a street basketball tournament he had run to, a very nostalgic place he had never gone to after the day he found himself being bored with his favorite sport.

A sudden rush of nostalgia crept Aomine's chest slowly yet steadily as he bit his lower lips, trying to contain how irate he was. The sound of ball bouncing, people's cheering, and people's laughter got to his nerves as he noticed that they all had fun within a sport that had tormented him with both boredom and love.

Suddenly, a voice high above the others grabbed his attention.

"TAIGAAAAA FLYYYYY!"

Aomine turned to find Ogiwara Shigehiro shouting with glee and laughter as Kagami Taiga tried to land a dunk on the court just behind Aomine's back. And as he thought, Tetsu was there.

The tealhead was wearing casual clothes, his usual blue-striped white t-shirt and khaki shorts. His shoes were his usual Asics Gel Hoop V3, meaning he had gone out with an intent to play basketball of sorts. Even when he was in different school, Tetsu still wore the same brand of shoes he wore during his Teikou days, and it somehow comforted Aomine... but to have it crushed again the moment he saw how those shoes matched with Ogiwara's own.

And now that he noticed it, it wasn't V3 that he wore, it was V5. Aomine felt uncomfortable once more. Damn, just when he thought he had found some similarity within this world and his own...

He was snapped out of his reverie the moment he noticed that Tetsu was no longer next to Ogiwara. _His _phantom sixth man had gone out alone and this was a chance for him to talk to him alone.

The ace of Teikou headed over the food stand, where he found Tetsu buying some lunch for him and his friends (the term sounded really weird in Aomine's ears, though, after all he _was _Tetsu's friend). He took a deep breath and tapped his shoulders lightly. _Keep it cool, keep it light_. "Yo, Tetsu." He greeted casually.

Azure orbs stared right through Aomine's navy ones and he couldn't see _any _recognition there...

"Can I help you?" Tetsu asked, his voice calm, level, and held a tiny hint of curiosity. As if talking to a mere stranger. Aomine clenched his own fists. "Um, you remember me, yeah? It's Aomine, we met... yesterday." He spoke reluctantly. They _didn't _ meet just yesterday.

Tetsu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, for once his expressions clear as a day. The shorter boy seemed to think hard to remember their meeting yesterday, only to shake his head. "That's... that's impossible..." Tetsu said, his usual monotonous voice making a slight pang on Aomine's chest. But then azure blue clashed with his own navy with blank emptiness.

"Because I have never met you before."

Aomine _flinched_.

No, no way, but, they just met a few days before! It's not like Tetsu to forget something like meeting people! He was supposed to- he _had _to remember! This must be a-

"Tetsuuuuuu!" A voice slightly higher than the others invaded Aomine's ears lightly. "Ah, Shigehiro-kun." Tetsu's voice barely changed, but Aomine could detect the slight happiness and relief in Tetsu's voice. Aomine turned to see the owner of those voice.

Once again as their gazes met, Ogiwara looked at him with eyes that were full of disdain; as if he _knew _something. And Aomine somehow _knew _that something was up.

"C'mon, Tetsu! Taiga's team won the round, they'll proceed to the next one! We should bring him his drinks, okay?" Ogiwara- the _brat _put his arms around Tetsu's shoulder and brought him away from Aomine's place. He could faintly hear a 'you know Teikou's Aomine, Tetsu?' coming from his lips and a slight head shaking from Tetsu.

Something was really strange here...

* * *

The strange thing was, whenever Aomine met or ran into Tetsu somewhere, the tealhead could never recognize him.

It was always the same, like an endless loop. A circle. Aomine would greet him, hung out with him (sometimes with Ogiwara, other times with Kagami, but never only the two of them), say goodbye or even make a promise of playing basketball together, but the next day, Tetsu would never recognize him.

He always uttered that overly polite 'Can I help you?' to him, like he was a total stranger and not even an acquaintances and on his seventeenth meeting with Tetsu, it occurred to him again. "Because I have never met you before, um, Aomine-san... was it?"

It _hurt_. Every single time it _hurt_.

It got Aomine thinking, though. He had always felt the happiest whenever he was with Tetsu. And yet he never appreciated or cherished Tetsu's presence. If only he knew that being ignored was _this _painful, Aomine wouldn't have ignored his shadow even for a second.

And another thing he realized was the fact that Tetsu seemed to always say that he had never met Aomine before... and it linked to what he heard before the space got distorted. Tetsu's _wish_. His shadow had wished...

He wished that he'd never met Aomine.

And this world gave him exactly what he wished for.

* * *

Ogiwara Shigehiro entered the dorm room he had shared with his best friends with a lazy yawn, still dripping wet from the shower he just took.

Taiga was already fast asleep; probably tired from having his menu doubled for coming late because of his detention, so there was nobody to get mad at him for coming in only with his boxers or wetting the floor. Ogiwara whistled to himself as he walked over to the desk across his bed, or the messiest desk amongst the three desks in the room.

Taiga's desk was clean, there were only some basketball magazine here and there, his books were all crammed within his drawer or was never let out from his school bag at all. Tetsu's desk was, of course, the neatest between them. His books were organized perfectly in alphabetical order and his homework that was due tomorrow were stacked in perfect order.

Ogiwara stole a milk from Tetsu's desk and drank it loudly. He even gargled just for the sake of it, earning a light chiding of 'honestly, Shigehiro-kun' from the Moon of Meikou, who was already getting ready for bed.

Tetsu looked really cute with that blue-white pajama of his, though. Ogiwara sat down on Tetsu's bed nuzzled his still-wet cheek on Tetsu's own and wished him a good night. Tetsu rolled his eyes before uttering a good night and a reminder to turn off the light.

Ogiwara looked around the now-silent room with a content smile across his face. He had Kuroko, no, _in this world it's __**Tetsu**_, with him. He was playing with him in the same court, sharing a smile and happiness together. He had seen what Kuroko was capable of in the other world and it was easy for him to help Tetsu develop his talent here in this world.

Because in a world where Kuroko Tetsuya does not meet Aomine Daiki, Ogiwara Shigehiro and Kagami Taiga were his destined _lights_.

And he would do anything to keep it that way.

* * *

_Confirmation: Yes guys, Ogiwara also comes from the canon world. He already saw Kuroko's phantom playing and was the one to awaken his talents in this world (because Kuroko never meets Akashi). The world Aomine gets thrown into was the world Ogiwara had wished for the most, after all XDDD_


End file.
